Going back to history, the Age of Reason or the Enlightenment was an intellectual and philosophical movement that dominated the world of ideas during the 17th to 19th centuries. Sir Isaac Newton's rational explanations for cosmic phenomena demonstrated that reason is better than superstition.

The writer is Public Information Officer, United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Caracas. He contributed the following to UN OCHA on June 1.

CARACAS (IDN) – When I arrived in Venezuela ten months ago, access to basic services and products such as food and medicines was already challenging. Patience and good humour were the formula for overcoming the long queues to pay at the supermarket. In a country where local cash is not operational, credit cards, mobile payments and cryptocurrencies are the only ways to pay.

CAMBRIDGE | BRISTOL (IDN) – In June 1348, people in England began reporting mysterious symptoms. They started off as mild and vague: headaches, aches, and nausea. This was followed by painful black lumps, or buboes, growing in the armpits and groin, which gave the disease its name: bubonic plague. The last stage was a high fever, and then death.

NEW YORK (IDN) – Nine Permanent Missions to the United Nations in New York have expressed concern about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on migrants, and initiated a joint statement requesting endorsement by representatives of all other countries accredited to the UN Headquarters. Once finalized, they will transmit the statement to Secretary-General António Guterres and relevant UN agencies, as well as distribute it through social media.

BRUSSELS | NAIROBI (IDN) – Caribbean leaders have joined the United Nations in calling for solidarity and increased funding, as some of the world’s most vulnerable countries scale up their efforts to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. At a virtual summit in Kenya's capital city, Nairobi, they have highlighted the need for "a truly global response" to the pandemic which is devastating the economic systems around the world, particularly impacting 79 African, Caribbean and Pacific states. They also are stressed the need to "strengthen the multilateralism for development", and engage "our institutions to consider innovative solutions".

ABUJA (IDN) – I first watched the movie in the lockdown. At the beginning, it was funny when the pair was fiddling with their entrée in the restaurant and wondering why they had both avoided each other until now.

A few minutes after they left the restaurant, trouble started. The movie, entitled “Queen & Slim,” is the love story of two black Americans drawn to each other by tragedy even before their love story began.

United Nations Secretary-General launchesPolicy Brief on the Impact of COVID-19 on Refugees, IDPs and Migrants.

NEW YORK (IDN) COVID-19 continues to devastate lives and livelihoods around the globe — hitting the most vulnerable the hardest.

This is particularly true for millions of people on the move — such as refugees and internally displaced persons who are forced to flee their homes from violence or disaster, or migrants in precarious situations.

NORTHAMPTON, Massachusetts (IDN) – There is no need to wonder why George Floyd (age 46) was murdered in broad daylight in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25, 2020. The script of his death is written deep in the ugly drama of US history.

I Can’t Breathe 2020

Officer Derek Chauvin’s knee sat on George Floyd’s neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds. After that time, George Floyd was dead. From the moment Chauvin put his body on an unarmed man, George Floyd said – eleven times – Ican’t breathe.

LUND, Sweden (IDN) – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel has announced that in a month's time he will start to annex the large-scale Jewish settlements inside Palestinian territory, a step as provocative as one can imagine. Not even President Donald Trump's Administration which has supported Israel with many measures has not gone along with such thinking.

Supporting the creation of settlements, Trump appears to think, is one thing, annexing a step too far. On the other hand, he has made it clear how close to Netanyahu he feels. He may well end up supporting the prime minister.

SYDNEY (IDN) – A battle is brewing up between Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Victorian State Premier Daniel Andrews over an agreement the latter has signed with China to link his state with the joint infrastructure development to China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo added fuel to the conflict on May 24 in an interview with Rupert Murdoch owned Sky News when he said if Victoria joined the BRI, the US could "simply disconnect" from Australia.

NEW YORK (IDN) – The murder of George Floyd, a Black man in Minneapolis yanked from his car, shackled and suffocated to death by a police officer aided by at least three other officers, was front-page news in most of the major newspapers in the U.S. It was also covered internationally with many Africans expressing disgust and dismay over the cold-blooded police action. [Watch the video of the Minneapolis chocking an unarmed George Floyd.]

NEW YORK | MONROVIA (IDN) – Decades after Liberians agreed to close the chapter on years of disunity and nagging inequality between groups of African-American settlers and indigenous Liberians, efforts to solidify the nation's fragile state of peace appear to have deadlocked.

At a National Unification Day conference in Paynesville, a suburb of Monrovia, Augustine Arkoi, head of the Better Future Foundation (BFF), called the Unification Policy promoted by the late President William V.S. Tubman, a critical challenge 56 years after its formal launch.